World Cup Day 5

New Zealand 1-1 Slovakia

The first-half saw New Zealand's defensive 3-4-3 formation swamp the midfield with Slovakia unable to string many passes together.The Slovakians came out in the second half with more intent and began passing with alot more precision and with 5 mins they were ahead. NZ struggled to get to grips with the increase in tempo but somehow fashioned a late surge and found an unlikely equaliser in stoppage time

What I learned about New Zealand: They are like a Championship side, all set-pieces and crosses
What I learned about Slovakia: They seem to lack leadership/experience


Portugal 0-0 Ivory Coast


Brazil 2-1 North Korea

A Brazilian side full of out-of-form players struggled against the well organised Koreans. A higher tempo payed dividends for Brazil after the break scoring 2 excellent goals (although whether Maicon's was intentional is up for debate). North Korea struggled to get at Brazil but did manage a well taken consolation.


What I learned about Brazil: Kaka' appears to be still in the same lacklustre form he showed for Real Madrid
What I learned about North Korea: They're no pushovers